Austrian far-right party tasked with forming coalition
Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen has tasked Herbert Kickl, leader of the far-right Freedom Party, with forming a coalition government.
If the talks are successful, Austria will have a government led by the Eurosceptic, Russia-friendly Freedom Party (FPO) for the first time.
The FPEO has been in power before, but only as a junior coalition partner.
The party came in first place in the September elections with about 29% of the vote, but was then sidelined.
President Van der Bellen angered the FPÖ by not entrusting it with forming a government immediately after the elections.
At that time, leaders of all other parties refused to form an alliance with Kikal.
In October, Van der Bellen defected to the Conservative People’s Party (OVP), which came second in the election with 26%. coalition building work,
Chancellor Karl Nehmer, former leader of the ÖVP, described Kickl as a conspiracy theorist and a security threat.
But Nehmer attempted to form a three-party and then a two-party centrist coalition. Collapsed this weekend,
He then resigned and the Conservatives’ new leader, Christian Stocker, said his party would be willing to negotiate with Kickl.
President Van der Bellen has now entrusted Kikal with the task of forming a government.
The move is a dramatic reversal for the president, a former leader of the Green Party, who has long been critical of the FPÖ and has expressed reservations about Kickl as chancellor.
On Monday Van der Bellen said he had “not taken this step lightly”. He said he would “continue to ensure that the principles and rules of our Constitution are properly followed”.
In recent months, Van der Bellen has repeatedly said that he will remain vigilant to ensure respect for “the cornerstones of democracy”, including human rights, independent media and Austria’s EU membership.
The Freedom Party and ÖVP resemble each other on many issues and both take a hardline stance on migration.
However they have clashed over the opposition of the EU and the Freedom Party to aiding Ukraine in its war against Russia.
There is no time frame for the coalition talks, which will usually take two or three months but could happen sooner.
If talks fail, snap elections are likely. Polls show that support for the Freedom Party has increased since September.
